Dubai, UAE (CU)_ A senior executive from UAE Mars Mission said that the country’s Mars mission would help find its own version of Elon Musk and Bill Gates even if the nation fails to hit Mars. Mission Director Omran Sharaf said the initiative is already having an effect on society. He said that the aim of the Hope probe was to generate an attention-seeking social shift that would encourage the youths to follow professions in Stem careers, i.e., science, technology, engineering and math. The mission’s spacecraft is set to reach the orbit of Mars in less than a week. However, the process is expected to have only 50 percent success rate.
Mr Sharaf, spoke about the mission goals. He said, “There was a vision and goals we wanted to achieve – based on that the team designed a program within this mission to create an impact. The mission was launched in 2014 and, in that timeframe, you see the language of a whole generation and priorities change. Instead of pupils wanting to work in real estate or in finance sector, they talk about being entrepreneurs and innovators – being the future Elon Musk and Bill Gates of the UAE.”
Space is comparatively a new venture for UAE. However, the government had so far spent over Dh22 billion in the mission. There have been some key accomplishments by the UAE in their space race such as launching the first Emirati into space, constructing in-house satellites, launching the first Arab spacecraft to Mars, and the start of lunar mission. The space policy the UAE has planned partnering with expert space agencies such as the US NASA, the European Space Agency and Russia’s Roscosmos to improve the skills of the UAE. For instance, the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre collaborated with three American universities for the Mars mission to help develop the science tools for the Hope probe.
Mr. Sharaf believes that UAE’s model can be an example for other countries to develop their own space field. He said, “When we started, nobody was interested. But, now, to see the way the Ministry of Education have change their curriculums and how schools and universities reacted, it’s amazing. I don’t think any nation took a similar approach as the UAE when it comes to actually creating an impact and creating a disruptive change so fast.”
UAE is also sending its Emirati astronauts to Nasa’s Johnson Space Centre for rigorous training to prepare them for potential Nasa-led missions in the future. Moreover, the government is focusing on implementing space-related subjects and degrees in UAE schools and universities to make the sector more sustainable. The UAE will become the world’s fifth country to hit Mars if the Hope probe manages to reach the orbit of Mars. Mr Sharaf hopes that the information obtained from the mission will be used for further researches and will improve stem-related sectors around the world. On February 9, at 7.42pm Gulf Standard Time, the spacecraft is expected to enter the Martian orbit.
